


Between Slugs and Toads

by CoolyCakeCove



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Hero, F/F, F/M, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Mystery, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Politics, Strategy & Tactics, Time Skips, Villain Protagonist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28540797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolyCakeCove/pseuds/CoolyCakeCove
Summary: A reincarnated soul finds itself stuck between a short-tempered Senju princess and a perverted Dead Last—all while inside the mind of the series's infamous, sociopathic snake. Foreknowledge barely means anything when the pieces of the plot have yet to begun. Reborn!OC
Relationships: Katou Dan/Tsunade, Sarutobi Biwako/Sarutobi Hiruzen
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 0: Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The premise is that of a soul who enjoyed this series gets stuck in the mind of Orochimaru. With this foreknowledge, will they become an ever better villain seeing as they are very aware of the failures and risks? Will they become a overwhelmingly dominant, powerful, a benevolent ruler? Or become a waiter after murdering two kage, killing and torturing children, breaking the laws of nature to suit his whims, wearing bodies like warm gloves, and manipulating/breaking people like they're just pawns???
> 
> Who's to say?
> 
> Since this take place from the 1st war until canon, there is a lot of generically described lore and glossed over content. I tried my best to worldbuild in spite of that, keeping in line with what we know of the world today (well, pre-Boruto, I checked out of the series at this point), as well as establish precursors to the world we all know and love.
> 
> As a result, there is a lot of OCs and original places involved. If that makes you upset, this will be tough to get through.
> 
> Additionally, the time hops from "past" and "present", although the prologue begins sometime in the future of the second war. If you dislike unchronological works, this will be tough to get through.
> 
> And the canon timeline is really, really, really confusing and Kingdom Hearts levels of intricate, so if inaccuracies make you upset, I'm sorry.
> 
> With all that said, I hope you enjoy this work.

**Chapter 0**

**Prologue**

**The Snake Will Always Bite Back**

**_Orochimaru_ **

* * *

**If there is one thing Orochimaru can respect snakes for, it's their dedication to their prey.**

No matter if it's the paralyzing strangle of whatever unlucky enough to be slain or the slow, measured digestion of its food. Snakes are stubborn, fierce, and relentless. If this is the reason why most fear snakes, he sees no reason as to why he _shouldn't_ act like one as well.

"Tsunade." He beckons his teammate over with a terse movement.

The medic doesn't move at first. She huffs then saunters to his side. "Hm."

"How good is your enhanced strength with a quarter of your chakra?"

Tsunade wrinkles her nose while he speaks. "Using that much is a waste. What are you up to?"

"Obey. I am your leader."

" _Arguably_." Tsunade pulls at the strap of her leather greaves. "I can topple an area bigger than the Home, I guess. But, I won't. Not if it'll put other lives in harm. We can do things without going so low—"

"As if our enemies would be so kind to us."

"Well, that doesn't matter! What do _we_ become, huh? And their families? And those who survive?"

He holds a palm in her direction. Tsunade presses her lips together.

"At night, you strike their camp. If it so pleases you, you can remain in the back to heal."

"That's low."

"It is a necessity," says he, staring ahead. "Especially after the people they killed."

Night cannot fall fast enough. Ahead, obscured by the plentiful trees within the Land of Fire, is the camp housing 200 shinobi. They are tired, far from home, and disconnected from their allies. Isolated and exhausted enemies makes way for desperation.

It would be no problem at all to surround them with insurmountable forces, use a little sound illusion to scare all animals away, and let them slowly starve themselves until they surrendered their secrets. It would cause no fighting. No bloodshed.

Tsunade wouldn't let him even suggest as much to the captain.

For her, there must be a battle and prisoners to take. It isn't something he would do as a first option, but Tsunade is too useful of an ally to ignore.

The peak of night emerges. The new moon leaves the forest darker than ever before. Staring at the shadows of the trees and plants swaying in the spring breeze can drive one mad. A few Wind shinobi stand out on the outskirts of the camp, their torches burning like grounded stars, eyes opened as wide as can be.

He sees as much while perched on a tree branch some meters away.

 _Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique_.

His chakra slithers through the inky splotches. Just outside the circle of light, the trees warp ever so slightly. If the shinobi move their eyes, they could dismiss it as a trick of the night.

One shinobi blinks. And shuts his eyes tight. Once they open, he calls, "I think—I need to rest!"

"What's wrong? Falling asleep?"

"No…I guess I'm exhausted? I keep thinking I see eyes in the shadows."

He darts lightly off his branch, all while paranoia sows in his enemies. One by one, the shinobi start to second guess themselves. They cry _Release!_ and cast their chakra forwards not knowing where the illusion begins to end it. On the ground now, he can feel the shinobi scurrying to their feet. Their talking allows for him to cut his thumb and drip blood at his feet.

"On guard! Prepare for an attack!"

"Careful! We don't know how many are out there!"

"Puppet Brigade, Exploding Dandelions!"

He lets out a breath hearing that. Reluctantly, he pulls out a kunai.

From all cardinal points, the brigade sends out puppet vultures. The wooden monstrosities cut through sky soundlessly, navigating through obstacles as their beaks pry open and release paper tags set alight.

They flutter down like petals. One, then two, four graze the coldness of his chakra and explode with a blast that disperses a bitter cloud of smoke. It makes the night all that more obscured.

He has no choice but dodge the tags. He figured they would be foolish enough to set fire to the forest, not use chakra-seeking explosions. They're hardly explosions, they are diversions. Unfortunately for them, the tags all explode near the same time, giving them nothing to work with—

Something reaches for his shoulder.

He spins his kunai to stab behind him, only for his wrist to be caught.

"Thought you were hurt," Tsunade whispers.

He pulls his hand away. "Thanks. Change of plans. Take out the brigade."

"How am I supposed to do that? I bring that camp down, we're gonna lose sight of them. We can't take down dozens of birds, Orochimaru."

He closes his eyes. "I would not tell you to do something if I did not know it would work."

"How am _I_ supposed to know what _you_ know? It just looks like luck—"

"Enough."

He sprints off to regain an advantage. Treetops won't cut it now. Being on the ground, however, is even less beneficial. He raises in arm to his face. From his sleeve slithers a thin, black snake looking no different than the veins on his pale arm. " _Yesss_?"

"Suji"—the brigade is preparing to send out another force of birds, this time carrying light—"what are we dealing with?"

" _30 are wounded. There are decommissioned puppets. If they have more of those, they are too big to be used out here. None have any notable amount of chakra_."

"Right. Tell the others to be careful of Tsunade. Take them out from the inside."

" _Of coursssse_ …"

Suji returns. He skids to a halt. This should be far enough. Crouching to the ground, he runs through hand seals before pressing his palm to the soil.

 _Earth Release: Earth-Style Spikes_.

He can feel the slight sluggishness in his body as his chakra leaves and converts itself into spikes jutting from the ground in a straight line. Every point soars out the ground with little warning. With it being so loud, it draws the attention of all shinobi and injures none.

"Over there! Brigade, fly!"

He grits his teeth, readying to run through hand seals faster than ever before.

All birds go airborne like shooting stars. The reach their apex above him. His body heats up as their amber glow surrounds him. This time, their chests open for golden tags to fall, set alight.

It is silent as they drift.

The first tags reach almost a couple meters overhead before a command rings out clear: "Brigade, _destroy_!"

He cannot move fast enough. He manages to reappear on a tree branch. But it almost doesn't matter. The sound is deafening. A shockwave from the explosions nearly pushes him off. He can't even take a breath of air. His lungs won't fill, the stench burns. Among the myriad of bombs, there is screaming.

He tries to survey the damage, but the giant fire and black smoke complicates things. He's forced to move in closer—

Their camp is obliterated. The earth juts up at odd angles as if trying to form mountains. Torches are quenched or deserted on the ground.

The shinobi still standing are shouting. No battle commands leave their lips. Only sounds of terror. They pull at their uniforms as if covered in flames. They topple to the ground. The ones who still seem sane pull at their teammates and wonder how to help them.

Leaves spiral into the sky before him, revealing Tsunade. The raging fire lights everything on her face except her eyes. " _Orochimaru_ —"

"They are fine," he says and coughs. Seems the odor found its way down the back of his throat. "The snakes cause delirium. Before long, they will faint and everyone will be fine."

"There are wounded! If I didn't see them, you would've let me _hurt_ them?"

"30 wounded. You avoided them—" He coughs again. He feels the acidic remains of his stomach burning his chest.

Tsunade huffs and shakes her head. "This isn't right! We should've have fought them like we've _all_ been working for. This is—so cowardly and childish."

"We're outnumbered. You hated the other option."

"That's torture! You need to respect people. We're the same as them, we just think differently."

"Would you just shut _up_ about this holier-than-thou nonsense, Tsunade? This is _war_. Your _family_ died cause of war. Our _friends_."

"Stop," she growls.

His golden eyes shine as bright as the flames. " _This isn't a game_. This is the life of everything we love versus the death of everything we fight for. I'm not going to let you get yourself killed and screw over the world because you want to play hero like your grandfather."

"I'm warning you…" Her fists clench tighter.

"Newsflash, it doesn't matter how good you _think_ you are," he hisses, "because if you get a fleet of _our shinobi_ killed, you're as good as dead to the Leaf."

She raises one first, breathing hard.

"How many dead would be happy you're acting like this? How about _Jiraiya_?"

Tsunade brings her fist down onto the ground and deafens the world.


	2. Chapter 1: Reincarnation 1

**Chapter 1**

**Reincarnation**

**1 Year Post First Shinobi World War**

**The World That Used to Be (1)**

**_Orochimaru_ **

* * *

**Orochimaru doesn't remember how he died.**

No, that's not quite it.

Before he was Orochimaru, he was someone else. A person, though all that remains are memories more akin to emotions...than snapshots of a life. Most of it centers around a series. Its highs and lows. Watching alone and with friends. Until it ended, both the series and the memories of a person.

All that remains is an existence in-between this world and the other. He isn't so sure which one is real—technically, this world _should_ be fake. It should be imagination. And yet, the way the rain batters his body is too visceral to be faked.

He also doesn't know how his parents died, though he didn't find himself too surprised when it happened. He doesn't remember much of them either. They were shinobi who spent much of their time fighting in the war, only to be drowned in a manmade tsunami from none other than Land of Water shinobi. He does not know when or who or why. He does not know if they were fleeing or faced death head on.

He knows in his parents place, he was cared by several Leaf Village shinobi on an easy D-rank—some kids, some adults, all of whom were not fit to see battle. In the end, he was compensated for his parent's war efforts and he, like many of the orphans, was tasked with finding a job and shelter or starve on the Village Hidden in the Leaves' streets.

So far, he has spent months hidden in his home, unsure of what to make of himself now that the world has cast him aside. After all, he is no clan child. There is no guarantee a clanless child could become a ninja worth anything. Why waste effort on a risk? On another mouth to feed during hard times?

Why him? Why now? Why did his parents give up everything for the village and not for their son? Were they, too, reincarnated? Could he ask them?

The world remains silent to his questions. All he can do is stare at the tombstones of his parents, freshly made, after staring at the Memorial Stone for far too long.

Somehow, it feels more intimate seeing his parents separate from hundreds of other faceless names at his feet. He even feels keen to place flowers at their graves. If only he knew what their favorite flowers were.

It's a shame he, and so many others, had their family reduced to cold stones and decaying memories.

 _No one_ deserves this pain.

Did his parents risk their lives knowing that? As they died, did they figure their deaths would be okay if one day, none of this pain would be as widespread?

Little did they know, peace would emerge, but at least 30 or more years from now. Or course, there'd be a lot more pain, death, bloodshed before that happens.

He _can't_ wait that long, though.

"Oi, kid! Are you stupid? Standing in the rain? _Geez_."

He jolts as the rain no longer falls on him. Above is a red umbrella. Behind him, is a woman with bobbed hair the same color as her umbrella. Her skin is tanned and unblemished by battle scars. Her posture is perfect, her arms are toned. She even managed to get close without making a sound despite the muddy, puddle-covered ground. She is unlike every villager woman he has met.

The woman's eyebrows further knit together. "Those graves are your…? Do you still have family?"

What does he gain from talking to her? Would she hurt him?

She's tall, eyes sharp. He's not sure if her eyes are the color of storm clouds underneath the umbrella's red shadow. She keeps her eyes trained on him for a long time, rarely blinking.

On her dark tank top, the only thing keeping her modest, while the sleeves of her yellow kimono drape off her shoulders, is a chained necklace. Its centerpiece is a circle charm, red, with a spiral, resting on her breasts.

The Uzumaki Clan.

The clan that doesn't have that much time left alive.

He shakes his head. _No family_.

"Figured. I mean, no one lets their kid linger outside _this_ long. Well…if you can hold out longer, they're building a huge orphanage. I guess they got tired seeing all the little… _erm_ , so. Just wait. Can you?"

He hasn't seen a single building in construction. No, the Village Hidden in the Leaves has seen carriage after carriage of shinobi supplies.

She tilts her head back and groans. "This is stupid. C'mere."

The woman effortlessly seizes his waist and carries him like a sack of rice. He can do nothing but dangle as this woman very visibly kidnaps him.

Truthfully, he doesn't have better odds elsewhere.


End file.
